Armed Forces: Healthcare

Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What system is in place within the National Health Service to track veterans.

Lord Darzi of Denham: All veterans are now entitled to priority treatment in the National Health Service on the same basis that veterans with war pensions have enjoyed since the 1950s.
	There is, as yet, no system for automatically tracking veterans. The Government have received the report of the Defence Select Committee (Medical Care for the Armed Forces, HC 327, February 2008) and will be responding to the recommendations, including that there should be a system for automatically tracking veterans, in due course.

Armed Forces: Oil Prices

Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What assumptions they are making about the world oil price in budgeting for the Armed Forces for the coming financial year.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: Our fuel price projections for the financial year 2008-09 currently assume an average price of $83 per barrel for Brent crude. This is kept under regular review.

Armed Forces: Royal Fleet Auxiliary

Lord MacKenzie of Culkein: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many vessels of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary are currently laid up.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: The following Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) vessels are no longer in fleet's operational cycle:
	RFA Brambleleaf—awaiting disposal;RFA Grey Rover—awaiting disposal;RFA Oakleaf—awaiting disposal;RFA Sir Percivale—awaiting disposal; and RFA Sir Tristram—training platform.

Armenia: Genocide

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they recognise the existence of genocide in Armenia in 1915.

Lord Malloch-Brown: The position of the Government on this issue is long-standing. The Government acknowledge the strength of feeling about this terrible episode of history and recognise the massacres of 1915-16 as a tragedy. However, neither this Government nor previous Governments have judged that the evidence is sufficiently unequivocal to persuade us that these events should be categorised as genocide as defined by the 1948 UN Convention on Genocide.
	As my right honourable friend the then Minister for Europe (Geoffrey Hoon) said in a debate in Westminster Hall on 7 June 2006 (Official Report, col. 137WH), the work of establishing the truth must be conducted as a joint exercise by the parties directly involved if it is to help towards reconciliation. There needs to be a truth and reconciliation process owned by the people of Armenia and Turkey. Outsiders can commend the idea to the parties, but they should not try to do the work for them—undertaking this is an important part of the confidence-building and reconciliation process for the parties themselves. The Government will continue to encourage the parties to embark on such a process. In the mean time, we should resist the temptation to pre-empt its conclusions.

Cyprus

Lord Faulkner of Worcester: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What investigations they are undertaking into the purchase by British nationals of property, the title of which is disputed, in the Turkish-occupied sector of Cyprus; and what representations they have made to the Turkish Cypriot authorities on these matters.

Lord Malloch-Brown: The Government are not undertaking any investigations into potentially disputed property bought by British citizens in northern Cyprus. However, in response to inquires from members of the public, and through our travel advice on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website (www.fco.gove. uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029390590&a=KCountry Advice&aid=1013618387279), we strongly advise anyone thinking of purchasing property in the northern part of Cyprus to seek independent legal advice before buying any land or property. We also highlight the risks associated with buying property in the northern part of Cyprus.
	In our contacts with the leaders of the Turkish Cypriot community, we recognise the Turkish Cypriots' need for economic development in support of reunification. But we urge them to ensure that any property development that takes place does so in a manner that is both environmentally sustainable and does not complicate an eventual solution. Ultimately we believe that the difficult issue of property is likely to be fully resolved only in the context of a comprehensive settlement. We continue to urge both sides to engage constructively with the United Nations and to show the political will necessary to make decisive progress towards a comprehensive settlement in 2008.

Former Yugoslavia: International Criminal Tribunal

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What action they are taking to ensure that Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic are transferred to face trial before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for genocide and crimes against humanity.

Lord Malloch-Brown: The UK has given full and consistent support, both practical and political, to the work of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). We remain committed to seeing all four outstanding ICTY indictees, including Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic, arrested and brought to trial before the tribunal. This is a message that we constantly deliver in the region, particularly to the authorities in Serbia which have a key role to play in this regard.

Former Yugoslavia: International Criminal Tribunal

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will join the Governments of the Netherlands and Belgium in making the transfer of Ratko Mladic to face trial before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia a condition of the European Union signing a stabilisation and association agreement with Serbia.

Lord Malloch-Brown: The UK is committed to seeing all four outstanding International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) indictees, including Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic, arrested and brought to trial before the tribunal. The UK has given full and consistent support, both practical and political, to ICTY's work.
	The EU General Affairs and External Relations Council conclusions of June 2007 recalled that the pace and conclusion of the negotiations on the stabilisation and association agreement (SAA) would depend on Serbia's full co-operation with ICTY. There is currently no consensus within the EU that the necessary conditions have been met for SAA signature.
	The Government's position is that the political process must move forward in a way that upholds ICTY conditionality and ensures that this remains embedded in the accession process. The Government would be ready—in the interest of sending a clear signal of EU commitment to Serbia's European future—to contemplate signature of an SAA if there were clear agreement that ICTY conditionality were to remain clearly embedded in the accession process and to apply at the next relevant stage. A further relevant consideration is Serbia's response to developments in Kosovo. Violence against international personnel in Kosovo or against diplomatic premises in Belgrade, and statements by Serbian Ministers that condone this, clearly create an unpromising background for progress in the EU's relations with Serbia.

Health: Cardiac Rehabilitation

Lord MacKenzie of Culkein: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What percentage of patients with myocardial infarction or revascularisation or both are not offered a place on a cardiac rehabilitation programme; and
	What percentage of cardiac rehabilitation programmes have closed in the last two years.

Lord Darzi of Denham: Chapter 7 of the Coronary Heart Disease National Service Framework, published in March 2000, issued appropriate guidance to the National Health Service about the provision of cardiac rehabilitation services. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) clinical guideline 48, MI:Secondary Prevention, was subsequently issued in May 2007. This provided updated guidance to the NHS on secondary prevention in primary and secondary care for patients following heart attack and emphasised the importance of rehabilitation for these patients.
	Implementation of guidance is a matter for the local NHS, working in partnership with stakeholders and the local community. It is for NHS organisations to plan and develop services based on their specific local knowledge and expertise.
	The department does not collect information centrally about the numbers of cardiac rehabilitation programmes within the NHS or numbers of eligible patients to whom services are offered. However, the British Heart Foundation and the British Association of Cardiac Rehabilitation maintain a voluntary register of cardiac rehabilitation programmes, which holds details of around 340 programmes. Further details can be found on their website at www.cardiac-rehabilitation.net/

Health: Macular Degeneration

Lord Morris of Manchester: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will review the decision of Torbay District General Hospital to deny former serviceman Mr Jack Tagg, who has been diagnosed with "wet" macular degeneration, a course of Lucentis on the ground of cost.

Lord Darzi of Denham: This is a matter for Torbay Care Trust. Decisions to fund treatments are made by primary care trusts (PCTs) in consultation with the healthcare professionals who are best placed to decide on the most appropriate treatments for their patients.
	I am sorry to hear that Mr Tagg has been diagnosed with "wet" macular degeneration. South West Strategic Health Authority (SHA) has advised that Torbay Care Trust is satisfied that Mr Tagg has been properly assessed and treated throughout. I understand that the trust has written to Mr Tagg to invite him to meet to discuss a way forward and I hope that Mr Tagg accepts this offer.
	The National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is currently appraising ranibizumab (Lucentis) and expects to publish final guidance later in 2008. The department has made it clear that it is not acceptable for funding for licensed treatments to be withheld from patients simply because NICE has not issued final guidance on them. In these circumstances, PCTs are expected to take full account of the available evidence when reaching funding decisions.
	South West SHA has advised that Torbay Care Trust has established local clinical criteria for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration. These have been produced by a team from across Devon, including consultant ophthalmologists from three hospitals, together with local expertise.

Health: Workforce Planning

Lord MacKenzie of Culkein: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether workforce planning is sufficiently robust to plan properly for the future needs of the National Health Service and the independent health sector.

Lord Darzi of Denham: The National Health Service next stage review, led by Lord Darzi, includes a workforce planning, education and training work stream. The programme of work, which is due to be completed in the spring of 2008 is tackling the question of how workforce planning should be done in the future to deliver a supply of trainees and a workforce of the right size and structure.
	The review will make recommendations about the future roles and responsibilities in workforce planning of the department, strategic health authorities, primary care trusts and service providers, which will include both NHS and non-NHS providers.

Immigration: Georgia

Lord Campbell-Savours: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many United Kingdom entry clearance officers there are in Georgia; what are their grades; where they are located; and for how long each has been in post.

Lord Malloch-Brown: The complement of staff at our embassy in Tbilisi includes three UK entry clearance officers: the deputy head of mission, a third secretary and a member of the UK support staff. Respectively, they have spent five months, three years and six months at post. The embassy in Tbilisi is our only representation in Georgia.

Immigration: Georgia

Lord Campbell-Savours: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many staff there are in support of entry clearance officers in Georgia; and what are their nationalities.

Lord Malloch-Brown: There are two members of local staff working in support of UK entry clearance officers at our embassy in Tbilisi. Both have Georgian nationality.

Immigration: Georgia

Lord Campbell-Savours: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many applications have been received from applicants within Georgia by nationality for visas for access to the United Kingdom within each of the last three years.

Lord Malloch-Brown: In the three years from January 2005 to December 2007, a total of 13,982 visa applications were received by our embassy in Tbilisi. The breakdown by year is as follows:
	2005—4,164 applications, of which 4,055 were received from Georgian nationals and 109 from other nationalities;2006—4,610 applications, of which 4,467 were received from Georgian nationals and 143 from other nationalities; and 2007—5,208 applications, of which 5,059 were received from Georgian nationals and 149 from other nationalities.
	Of the non-Georgians, applications were received from nationals of some 38 other countries. The largest number of applications, though small in comparison with many of those to our other embassies, came from nationals of Armenia, China, India, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Russia and Turkey.

Immigration: Georgia

Lord Campbell-Savours: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many visas for entry into the United Kingdom have been granted without appeal to an asylum and immigration tribunal to Georgian nationals in the last three years.

Lord Malloch-Brown: In the three years from January 2005 to December 2007, a total of 12,550 visas were issued to Georgian nationals without appeal to an asylum and immigration tribunal. The annual figures are as follows:
	2005—3,620;
	2006—4,249; and
	2007—4,681.
	These figures include, of course, applications made at our missions other than our embassy in Tbilisi.

Immigration: Vietnamese Children

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether any Vietnamese children in the United Kingdom have been convicted of drug or immigration offences.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: Details relating to the nationality of the defendants are not required for criminal cases in England and Wales unless they involve an immigration offence. Therefore, nationality information is not routinely collected by the courts or reported to the Ministry of Justice; detailed information is held by the courts only on individual case files.

Iraq: Military Deployments

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many United Kingdom military fatalities there have been in Iraq since hostilities began in March 2003.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: As at 2 March 2008, a total of 175 UK Armed Forces personnel or MoD civilians have died serving on Operation TELIC since the start of the campaign in March 2003. This information is published and updated regularly on the Ministry of Defence website at www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/FactSheets/OperationsFactsheets/OperationsInIraqBritishFatalities.htm.

Israel and Lebanon: Cluster Munitions

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by Lord Malloch-Brown of 4 December 2007 (WA 178), whether since October 2007 Israel has provided the necessary details for safe clearance of cluster munitions fired into south Lebanon in 2006; and, if not, whether they will raise this matter directly with Israel and at the United Nations.

Lord Malloch-Brown: The Government understand that the Government of Israel have now provided some data on their use of cluster munitions in south Lebanon to the UN. The UN is currently assessing this information. Continued dialogue between the UN and the Government of Israel on this issue is essential. In addition, Israel must co-operate fully with the UN to ensure that the data that it provides are fully understood and made as useful as possible to those planning and undertaking clearance of munitions in south Lebanon.
	The UK continues to support the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701. In this context we continue to call on the Government of Israel to make available all data that the UN requires regarding their cluster munition strikes in south Lebanon.

Israel and Palestine: Tony Blair

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What will be the total cost in the current financial year of Mr Blair and his staff, as the quartet's representative in the Middle East; how much of this will be borne by the United Kingdom; and what is the estimated full cost for 2008-09.

Lord Malloch-Brown: The UK has so far provided £400,000 to a UN development programme trust fund that provides support to the right honourable Tony Blair's office in Jerusalem. The UK has also seconded four staff to his team. Other international donors are also supporting his work. Mr Blair has been appointed by, and reports to, the quartet (US, EU, UN and Russia). We do not have figures available for the total cost of Mr Blair and his staff. It is a matter for the quartet to determine whether to publish details of Mr Blair's team, costs and funding.
	We strongly support the work of Mr Blair. He is well placed to drive forward Palestinian capacity building, which is a clear priority.

Kenya: Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Lord Sheikh: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What assistance they are providing with regard to the establishment of a truth and reconciliation commission and to the proposed work to be undertaken by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Kenya.

Lord Malloch-Brown: The Government welcome the announcement by Kofi Annan on 15 February that the parties have agreed to establish a truth, justice and reconciliation commission. We, with our international partners, await further details on how the parties intend to take this forward and stand ready to provide assistance as necessary.
	We welcome the fact-finding mission to Kenya of the team from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and from the office of the United Nations Special Adviser for Genocide to investigate potential human rights abuses. We will seek to ensure that their findings and recommendations are acted on. It is important that the causes of violence are addressed and allegations of human rights abuses are investigated thoroughly. Along with our international partners, we continue to provide support for those displaced and harmed by post-election violence in Kenya.

Nuclear Weapons

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is their position regarding the model nuclear weapons convention submitted by Costa Rica and Malaysia in 1997; and what preparations they have made for the implementation and verification that would be necessary for a worldwide convention.

Lord Malloch-Brown: The Government consider the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) to be the cornerstone of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime and the framework for nuclear disarmament. The UK has an excellent record in implementing its disarmament obligations under Article VI of the NPT and is committed to working towards a safer world in which there is no requirement for nuclear weapons. The Government do not support any new process, including a nuclear weapons convention, that could risk cutting across the existing NPT regime and therefore have not been involved with any preparation for the verification or implementation of such a convention.

Official Meetings: Rupert Murdoch

Lord Avebury: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	On what dates from 1 January 2006 to June 2007 the then Prime Minister either (a) met Mr Rupert Murdoch, or (b) spoke to him on the telephone; and
	Why the Written Question by Lord Avebury of 7 November 2007 (HL143) has yet to be answered, when a similar Question was answered by correspondence to Lord Avebury in the summer of 2007.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: During the period 1 January 2006 to June 2007, the then Prime Minister spoke to Mr Rupert Murdoch on the telephone on 9 February, 7 May and 31 August 2006. In addition, he spoke at a News Corporation event in the United States on 30 July 2006.

Railways: Speed Limit

Lord Berkeley: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether any government department or agency was responsible for the imposition of a general 4 mph speed limit on all trains operating within possessions; if so, what were the reasons for this change; and what will be the consequences in terms of outputs and timings of possessions.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: This is an operational matter for Network Railas the owner and operator of the national rail network. My noble friend should contact Network Rail's chief executive at the following address for a response to his Question: Iain Coucher, Chief Executive, Network Rail, 40 Melton Street, London, NW1 2EE.

Railways: Station Car Parks

Lord Bradshaw: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What action they propose to take in response to the report for Passenger Focus regarding the adequacy of station car parks in the Greater Anglia area.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: Car parking at stations is a commercial matter for train operating companies. It is not in their interests to limit the amount of car parking available, as this is likely to suppress demand for rail travel.

Skilled Workers

Lord Dykes: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will take steps to reverse the net outflow of scientists, technicians and other skilled workers from the United Kingdom, as highlighted in the recent Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development study.

Baroness Morgan of Drefelin: This country operates in an increasingly global economy in which there is a greater international exchange of skilled workers than ever before and our world-class university system makes our graduates and skilled people highly attractive to international companies and employers. It is important that we go on equipping people of all backgrounds and talents with the skills that they need to be properly qualified to work wherever they wish. However, the vast majority (90 per cent) of those highly skilled workers are being employed by UK-based employers using the higher-level skills that they have acquired to make us a highly competitive and productive economy on the world stage. Many of the 10 per cent who seek opportunities overseas return at a later date.

Sudan: Peace Agreement

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is their response to the report of January 2008 by the Associate Parliamentary Group on the Sudan, Comprehensive Peace, Three Years On: Towards Elections.

Lord Malloch-Brown: We agree with the associate parliamentary group's report that more effort is needed to implement the comprehensive peace agreement (CPA) in the run-up to the 2009 elections. The CPA is the bedrock of stability and democratic transformation in Sudan and 2008 is a critical year in the agreement's implementation. The census, preparation for elections, continued installation of the joint integrated units and demarcation of the north-south boundary are important milestones ahead and we will support both parties in helping to achieve them.